


The Second Potter Son

by slytheringblfan



Series: Albus Potter deserves better than the Cursed Child [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: How Do I Tag, Tags May Change, draco is also a good father, good parent gang, harry is a good father, it gets kind of dark
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-16 18:13:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28586286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slytheringblfan/pseuds/slytheringblfan
Summary: "But Slytherin is the evil house. My brother James said so." He told the hat quietly."Ha! No, boy. Slytherin is a house of true greatness. A house of ambition, dedication and true loyalty. Where you'll find your real friends. Where I believe you in particular, could thrive."From the moment of his sorting, Albus knows he's in for an interesting year.**basically, this is a very self-indulgent fic of how i think Albus' life at Hogwarts would have been bc i'm not a fan of the cursed child.**irregular updates.
Series: Albus Potter deserves better than the Cursed Child [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2094624
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I will update somewhat sporadically.  
> I mostly wrote this for myself, so yes.
> 
> All rights for Harry Potter universe to JK.Rowling  
> This work is not for profit

Exhaling heavily as he stepped on to the Hogwarts Express and replaying his father’s words in his head, Albus Potter assured himself that he was not going to be outcast from the Potter family  _ even _ if he did get sorted into Slytherin house- not that he thought he would be sorted there, really. With that thought easing his mind, Albus hoisted his trunk and his ferret cage and followed his cousin Rose, who was heaving her own trunk and cat carrier along, and the pair searched for somewhere to sit.

As they walked through the corridor of the Hogwarts Express, it became quickly apparent that they were unlikely to find an empty cabin, so they decided to settle in to any one they saw, with the fewest number of people. 

They carried on down the train corridor for a time, their trunks feeling heavier despite being spelled, before finally, they stumbled upon a cabin with only two occupants: a grey eyed, pale, blonde boy and a lanky brunette girl. Both of them appeared to be first years, too.

Sliding the door open, Rose stuck her head in.

“Mind if we join you? Everywhere else is full.” 

The boy answered with a gentle smile and a nod of his head. 

“Sure,” he said quietly.

“Thanks!” Rose said brightly, stepping fully into the cabin and setting her trunk and owl cage at her feet. Albus followed closely behind her, sliding the door closed behind him once he was in.

“I’m Rose, and this is my cousin, Albus.” 

Albus, who had never been even a fraction as confident as his cousin, nor ever very good at making friends, offered the pair of them a polite nod of his head and a small smile.

The boy shot a look at the girl in the compartment with him, who was giving him an encouraging smile.

“N-nice to meet you. Um, I-I’m Scorpius … M-malfoy.” 

Watching the other boy stutter through his self-introduction shouldn’t have settled Albus the way it did, but it helped to ease the growing bundle of nerves that he could feel in the pit of his stomach. 

The girl gave Scorpius a ‘well done’ nod, then turned and offered Albus and Rose a friendly smile. 

“I’m Meiying.” 

If Albus had focused on his cousin during Scorpius’ introduction, as opposed to the easing pit of nerves in his own stomach, he would have noticed the wide-eyed glance Rose had given him the second Scorpius had said the name ‘Malfoy.’ If he’d have noticed her glance, he may have been able to stop whatever followed said glance. 

“So … just to confirm, you're a … Malfoy? Like, as in, the son of Draco Malfoy?” 

Albus tensed, hoping not for the first time that Rose could read his mind as a mantra of ‘ _ please shut up, please shut up, please shut up’  _ ran through his head. 

Scorpius’ face fell. That was apparently all of the confirmation that Rose needed.

“Okay! Wow! That’s … that’s  _ great _ . Really, really, great. But you know what? I’ve just remembered that we, uh, can’t sit here right now, because of … that thing. Right, Al?”

Albus’ knew that his face was betraying his cousin’s blatant lying, but he was appalled and embarrassed and there wasn’t really any way for him to hide it.

“Hmmm … I think I’m missing something.  _ Why _ can't you sit here?” Meiying asked.

Her voice was dangerously polite and the look in her eye told Albus that she knew exactly what Rose meant, she just wanted Rose to say it.

“Well, because, well … shit.” 

Rose looked to Albus for help as she fumbled around for an excuse, but he didn’t make any move to offer her one.

Meiying eyed Rose, waiting patiently for her to say what she obviously didn’t want to.

“Shit. Fine.” Rose finally huffed out. 

“I’m sorry, but he’s a Malfoy, and literally  _ everyone  _ knows the Malfoy’s aren't a good sort. It’s not good to be associated with one of them. No offence.”

Albus whipped his head towards his cousin and continued silently begging her to just  _ shut up _ as Scorpius’ face fell even more, his ears flushing a bright redl. Obviously and rightfully so, he had taken offence.

“No, please. Tell us how you really feel.” Meiying intonated sarcastically. 

“Wha- It’s not just me!  _ No one  _ wants to be seen associating with the Malfoy’s. They’ve done awful things and  _ everybody _ knows it.” Rose declared defensively, waving her hands about as she did so.

“ _ Rose! _ ” Albus bit out quietly. “Stop.  _ Speaking _ .”

He was sufficiently uncomfortable now, his entire face flushing with embarrassment. 

Sliding the door open and maneuvering Rose so that she was out of the cabin, Albus turned to address Scorpius and Meiying.

“I’m very sorry. We’ll sit somewhere else. Very sorry … sorry.”

He could barely meet their eyes as he stumbled over himself to pass Rose her belongings before he turned to gather up his own. Throwing out another mumbled apology, Albus slunk out of the cabin, sliding the door closed behind him. 

Staunchly refusing to meet Rose’s gaze because  _ Merlin _ but he was annoyed with her, Albus followed Rose as they set off in search of another cabin.

It was another ten minutes before they found a cabin at the far end of the train to settle into; in which sat an older boy, already dressed in his school robes and practicing magic. He told them rather huffily that they could share the cabin, but their pets needed to stay in their cages and Albus and Rose needed to stay quiet, so he could concentrate.    
  


Five minutes later, Albus and Rose had settled completely into the cabin, putting their trunks and carriers into the overhead storage. 

Staring out the window, Albus rehashed the awkward encounter with Scorpius and Meiying, cringing to himself as he did so. The pair had seemed pleasant enough. They definitely seemed like they would have been more fun to share a cabin with than the boy Albus and Rose were sitting with now, and more than that, Albus had a feeling he could have gotten comfortable with them. As someone who had always struggled to be comfortable around new people, Albus treasured people who he could be at ease around.

The train journey was mostly silent, with both Rose and Albus retrieving books from their trunks to entertain themselves. Rose was reading some muggle book about a fake witch in a wardrobe with lions- something that Aunt Hermione had given her as a going away gift- and Albus sat reading his copy of  _ Magical Drafts and Potions _ .

A couple of hours had passed when the older student suggested that the pair of them should change into their robes, as they would be arriving soon. Both Albus and Rose gathered their robes from their trunks and headed off to change into them.

Albus opened his mouth to finally speak to Rose once they were out of the cabin but before he had uttered a word, she was shooting him a scathing look and speaking.

“ _ Don’t _ say it, because trust me, I know. It’s all I’ve been bloody thinking about. I could barely concentrate on the book mum gave me.” She bit out. 

“ _ Merlin, _ I couldn’t have been any more of an absolute  _ bitch _ if I had bloody tried!”

At least she was aware, Albus reasoned with himself.

“You should apologise.” 

“Right, because I’m sure that that will make it  _ all  _ better, and he’ll just be  _ dying _ to be my best friend afterwards,” she snarked. 

“ _ Who _ in their right mind tells someone that their family are a bad sort, says that no one would or should be friends with them, and then comes back with the cheek to apologise and expect it to be just dandy? An  _ idiot _ , that’s who.” 

Albus shook his head, deciding he would just leave it up to his cousin to resolve and the pair carried on to change into their robes; Rose mulled over her options in silence while Albus quietly agreed that she certainly didn’t have many. He almost definitely wouldn’t want to have anything to do with someone who said his entire family was terrible, either.

Upon their return to their train carriage, the pair of them resumed reading their chosen books, settling once more into silence for the remainder of the journey.

By the time the Hogwarts Express pulled up at Hogsmeade station, Albus had memorised the twelve uses for dragon's blood and what ingredients were used to brew a forgetfulness potion. He was feeling quite confident that, at the very least, Potions was a class in which he would do well this year.

He and Rose quickly grabbed their things and headed out onto the platform. 

On the platform, a booming voice that Albus immediately recognised was calling “Firs’ years! Over ‘ere. Firs’ years, over ‘ere!” 

Albus and Rose made their way quickly to where Hagrid was calling them, trunks and cages in tow.

“Leave yer belongins’ over ere’. We’ll be gettin’ to the castle another way. Leave em all ‘ere. Right you lot, follow me!” 

After setting his trunk and his cage in the designated area, along with about sixty five other people, Albus and Rose followed Hagrid towards a bevy of boats. Looking wide eyed at the enormous lake that the boats floated in, Albus thanked Merlin that it was a calm night. This was not a trip he’d want to make in rough waters. 

“Alrigh’ you lot. Lots of five and into a boat. Come on now!” 

Albus and Rose very quickly found themselves in a boat with a pair of extremely chatty girls and a grinning, brown skinned boy. Rose became fast friends with the girls and within moments, the three of them were conversing about what classes they were most looking forward to.

“Righ’, everybody in? Off we go then.” Hagrid called out.

The boats seemed to begin moving of their own accord all at once towards the castle. Staring in wonder, it finally sunk in for Albus that he was here! 

After what felt like an eternity in waiting, Albus was finally at Hogwarts. 

“Isn’t it better than you could have imagined?” The other boy said to Albus. 

Glancing towards him, Albus nodded his assent. 

“I’m Dori. Well, Theodore, but that's too long, isn’t it?” The other boy said, holding out his hand to shake Albus’.

“Albus … call me Al.” Albus responded, as he shook Dori’s outstretched hand. 

Albus wouldn’t usually allow people outside of his family call him Al, but something about the easy way that Dori spoke sat well with Albus. He had a good feeling about him.

Dori nodded at Albus, and continued the conversation. 

“You know what house you wanna be in?” He asked. 

Shrugging his shoulders at Dori, Albus responded, “Most of my family are in Gryffindor. I guess I’ll probably go there too. What about you?” 

“My dad was a Slytherin. Wants me to be one, too. But I reckon I wouldn't mind Hufflepuff. Be hilarious to give him that news. I can just imagine him telling my grandparents. They’d disown me.” Dori said with a laugh and a shake of his head. 

Albus let out a laugh and continued to chat with Dori during their journey across the lake..

When the boats finally reached the muddy bank of the school, Albus, Rose, Dori, and the other two girls who had introduced themselves along the journey as Emilia Strauss and Lola Hunter, clambered out of the boat and joined the forming group of first year students. 

“Alrigh’, follow me!” Came Hagrid's booming voice. 

The group quickly made their way towards the Hogwarts entranceway, where they were greeted by another of Albus’ parents’ friends- Neville Longbottom.

“Thank you Hagrid.” Neville said kindly. “I’ll take them from here.”

Turning to regard the first years, Neville called out for them to follow him to the Great Hall, and began leading the first years through the castle.

Walking side by side with Dori, Albus followed with the group of first years through corridors and up stairs to the closed entrance of the Great Hall. He noticed Scorpius and Meiying walking slightly ahead of them, chatting to each other. He noticed it vaguely on the train, but hadn’t fully realised that Meiying was really tall. She had at least half a foot on Scorpius, who wasn’t exactly short. Glancing around at the rest of the first years, Albus came quickly to the realisation that she was probably one of the tallest first years.

Quieting the somewhat noisy group to address them all, Neville introduced himself as Professor Longbottom and explained what was going to happen. 

“There's a hat that you will place upon your head to be sorted into a Hogwarts house. The hat will see your mind, and might even talk to you. Now, depending on the particular student, the hat could take three seconds or three minutes. While you're here at Hogwarts, your houses will be like your family. Your accomplishments will be rewarded with house points, and your indiscretions will result in the loss of house points. Whichever house has the most points at the end of the year, wins the house cup.”

“Once you’ve all been sorted, the feast will begin. Any questions?”

No one seemed to have any questions. They all simply stood there, wide eyed, in nervous anticipation. 

“Great, well, follow me.” 

Turning heel, Neville led the group into the Great Hall, towards a small stool that sat unobtrusively in the middle of a podium. Upon it sat the hat Neville had told them about. It didn't quite meet the expectation Albus had of it. He had pictured a pointy black wizards hat. Maybe with a couple of gold stars. This hat was disgusting and looked tired. Literally. 

The hall was silent, and everyone stared at the hat, waiting for something. Suddenly, the brim of the hat quivered open, and it burst into song.

_ The founders four of Hogwarts school _

_ Charmed me so that when they _

_ Had all passed on, I still could rule _

_ In what house each student would stay. _

_ I’ll cast you into Gryffindor, _

_ If your bravery stands out. _

_ If you're bold and daring to the core, _

_ It’s where you belong, no doubt. _

_ Or I’ll set you off for Hufflepuff _

_ If it's kindness that I see, _

_ If your loyalty and hard work ethic  _

_ Are what’s most apparent to me. _

_ I’ll rule that you’re a Ravenclaw, _

_ Should I find eagerness to learn. _

_ If you’ve a clever or creative mind _

_ Then a place there you have earned. _

_ Or I’ll send you into Slytherin, _ _   
_ _ Should I see you have great ambition, _

_ If your mind is cunning, sly or quick, _

_ To green, you’ll have admission. _

_ But know this now, and be aware _

_ That my choice of house for you, _

_ Is a choice I make in consciousness  _

_ Of the choices that you do. _

_ No house is better than the rest, _

_ Despite their reputations. _

_ The founders intended harmony, _

_ Not hate or separation. _

_   
_ _ I do my job, I do it well _

_ For I’ve never yet been wrong. _

_ No student I have ever placed _

_ Was where they did not belong. _

_ So pick me up, put me on, _

_ It’s time for me to dig in, _

_ For I’m the Sorting Hat of Hogwarts, _

_ And I am ready to begin. _

The hat finished its song with a bow of its tip, and applause rang out across the hall. With that, the sorting began.

“When I call your name, step forward on to the stool and place the hat on your head.” Neville said. 

“ _ Allory, Delilah _ .” was the first to be called. 

A nervous, mousy looking girl with big eyes stepped towards the stool and tripped over her feet. Scrambling embarrassedly upright, Delilah Allory sat down and pulled the hat on her head. It sat for a moment before announcing:  _ “Ravenclaw!”  _

A hearty applause started from the Ravenclaw table and died down a couple of moments after she seated herself with the rest of her new house. 

That was the pattern that continued for the rest of the roll and Albus paid close attention, waiting to see which house three students in particular were placed in. 

He watched as student after student was placed into their house- each taking no longer than a minute- and eventually the first of three particular people he’d been waiting to see sorted, was called.

_ “Fawley, Meiying.” _

She walked towards the stool, looking relatively calm, except her ear kept twitching, which gave her nervousness away. 

She picked up the hat and sat herself on the stool. The Sorting Hat had barely touched her head before calling:  _ “Slytherin!” _ . 

Smiling, she placed the hat back upon the stool and headed for the Slytherin table. 

“Wow, when Professor Longbottom said three seconds or three minutes, I thought he was just exaggerating. But she literally took three seconds.” Dori remarked after Meiying’s sorting, clearly impressed.

The roll carried on, and progressed quite quickly, although no one was sorted quite as fast as Meiying had been. The hat didn't seem to be having much trouble placing any of the students though, Albus thought, as  _ Jordan, Gideon  _ was sorted into Gryffindor. 

A couple of names later, Neville called for  _ “Malfoy, Scorpius.”  _

A pronounced hush fell over the great hall as he made his way to the stool, everyone straining to hear what house the only-child of the only-Death-eater-to-avoid-Azkaban (after the war), would be placed into.

Picking up the hat and pulling it over his head, Scorpius Malfoy sat upon the stall far longer than any other first year thus far. 

Three minutes passed, and the hat gave no indication of announcing a house. 

“Christ, what’s it been? Like ten minutes?” Dori muttered under his breath to Albus.

“Try four.” Albus murmured back, dryly.

Another minute later, the brim of the hat finally opened, slowly, and called out:  _ “Slytherin!” _

Hearty clapping began from the Slytherin table, and Scorpius, after removing the hat, hurried over to sit next to Meiying, smiling in relief all the while.

A couple of students later, “ _ Nott, Theodore”, _ was called. 

“Fingers crossed for Hufflepuff, mate,” Dori muttered to Albus, earning a huffed laugh, before he made his way to the stool. 

Pulling the hat onto his head, there was only a slight deliberation before “ _ Slytherin”rang _ out across the hall. 

Shooting a funny face towards Albus, Dori turned and jogged to sit with the other Slytherin first years.

Albus felt disappointment hit him a little bit. He had hoped that he might be placed into the same house as Dori, but there was no way that Albus would be put into Slytherin. Potters did not go into Slytherin, nor did Weasleys.

Five minutes later, Neville finally called  _ “Potter, Albus.” _ .

It was his turn to be sorted, and a nervous dread settled into his stomach as he approached the stool, picked the hat up and sat down. He hadn’t considered it until this moment, but what if he put the hat on and it didn’t place him anywhere? What if he didn’t belong to any house? Albus hesitated before pulling the hat over his head. 

Albus startled as a voice immediately piped up in his mind.

“Well, well, I haven't had this happen with one of your lot before.” It said.

“What?” Albus asked.

“I’ve had many of your cousins, and even your brother sit here on this stool. Not one of them gave me trouble at all. I knew exactly where they were going. But you… hmmm.” 

Albus began to worry at that. 

“I… but me what? I’m not like the rest of my family? Am I  _ not _ a Gryffindor?” He asked the hat, worriedly. 

“You’re brave, plenty of courage like your family. You could be a Gryffindor. But I think you’d do better elsewhere… You’re a quiet boy. A clever one too. More cunning than anyone gives you credit for. And you have plans for yourself. You want to be a healer, do you boy?” The hat asked him knowingly.

“Well, no. Not exactly. I want to create a potion that helps people like my Uncle George,” Albus replied.

“Hmm, I see. You intend to help others, and are prepared to put in the work to see it happen. You are also fair and just- the markings of a proud Hufflepuff. But that mind. Steady, sure, determined, clever. A mix of Slytherin and Ravenclaw. You’d do well in any of the four houses. But where to put you?” 

The hat continued to muse in his head as Albus stayed quiet.

“Well, I, just … not Slytherin?” Albus said, ending on a question.

“I can’t be the first Weasley-Potter to be in Slytherin.” He explained quickly to the hat.

“Are you sure? That thirst you have to reach your goals, to help the people closest to you. That’s all Slytherin you know.”

Albus considered for a moment, but then James’ words came to his mind.

“But Slytherin is the evil house. My brother James said so.” He told the hat quietly.

“Ha! No, boy. Slytherin is a house of true greatness. A house of ambition, dedication and true loyalty. Where you’ll find your real friends. Where I believe you in particular, could thrive.” 

The hat seemed to be convincing itself (and Albus) that Albus belonged in Slytherin the more it spoke and Albus had to admit to himself: Slytherin house didn’t seem all that bad anymore.

Softly, he asked the hat, “Do you really think I might belong in Slytherin?”

“I told you before, you would do well in any of the four houses, but in Slytherin, you would do more than well; you would do great. But I’ll give you what I gave your father- a choice. Do you truly not wish Slytherin to be an option?”

This was it, Albus thought. Here was his out. He could just tell the hat right now, that he absolutely did not want to be in Slytherin… except that would be a lie. James didn’t want Albus to be a Slytherin- despite his teasing. Uncle Ron didn’t want Albus to be a Slytherin- he hated the lot of them. But Albus, Albus secretly didn't mind _now_. Now that he had made friends with a Slytherin boy, who, in all honesty, seemed very decent. 

Finally, Albus told the hat, “Ok, just put me where I belong. Wherever I belong.”

“Very good, boy. Always know that I am never wrong. It'll have to be … 

**SLYTHERIN** !” 

Although a few people began clapping, the majority of the students, and most of the teachers, sat in shock. Glancing quickly at Rose, who looked beyond shocked, Albus knew, as he started walking towards the Slytherin table, that people would talk about him. They would talk about how he, the son of Harry Potter, the son of The Saviour of the Wizarding World, was a Slytherin. 

Albus could hear the whispers start as he slunk into the space Dori had made for him. 

“Ignore them, mate.” Dori said, smirking. “No one here knows shit except that hat. He told me so.” 

Releasing a quick laugh at Dori’s cheeky tone and cuss, Albus made Dori a quick bet.

“Five sickles we hear at least one person bring up how disappointed my dad must be in me.” He said quietly.

“You’re on.” Dori said, amusement heavy in his tone.

The whispering didn't cease for a while, and Albus was able to make out most of it. 

_ “But, the hat must be wrong! Surely, it’s wrong!”  _

_ “Harry Potter’s son is a Slytherin! Can you believe it!?”  _

_ “Merlin’s beard! A Potter!? In Slytherin!?”  _

_ “Merlin, imagine having to be the one to tell Harry Potter that his son is a Slytherin!” _

The whispering didn’t bother Albus, but it did stunt the sorting a little bit. The whispers only came to a halt when the Headmistress stood to hush them. 

“If we could get back to the sorting.” She insisted sternly.

Clearing his throat to continue on, Neville started calling up the remaining students to be sorted.

Casting a look at Albus, Dori whispered, “You owe me five sickles.”

Chuckling quietly to himself, and nodding his head okay- because no one had actually said Harry Potter would be disappointed in his son-, Albus began to look around the Great Hall. Now that he had actually been sorted, he was better able to take everything in.

The walls were decorated with four giant banners, each one depicting a house crest. Giant floating candles danced above his head, and the ceiling reflected a calm, indigo sky. 

Tearing his eyes towards where the food would be, Albus was impressed by the huge gold platters that sat empty along the table, accompanied by matching golden goblets and gleaming plates.

James had told Albus all about the Hogwarts feasts, and now that he was no longer nervous about being sorted, Albus was rather hungry.

Looking towards the podium, Albus saw that there were only seven students left to be sorted.

_ “Strauss, Emilia.” “Hufflepuff!” _

_ “Thomas, Shaun.” “Gryffindor! _

_ “Weasley, Rose.” “Gryffindor!” _

_ “Wood, Scott.” “Gryffindor!” _

_ “Yelich, Piper.” “Slytherin!” _

_ “Zabini, Etienne.” “Slytherin!” _

Ten minutes later, the last first year had been sorted, and Professor McGonagall was rising to address the school. 

“To all new students, congratulations on your sortings. I suggest you take this time to begin learning about your peers, for they will become like your new family.

A warning to all first years, and a reminder to returning students, that the forest grounds are strictly out of bounds, and those of you who disobey school rules, will lose house points.

Now, you may now begin eating.”

She clapped her hands and the golden platters that lined the table immediately filled with food.

Roast pork, lamb and chicken, with roasted vegetables and gravy. Thick, creamy potatoes and buttery stuffing sitting next to huge bowls of different types of salads. Fresh loaves of bread, and ladles of creamy pumpkin soup. 

“Shit yes!” Dori exclaimed excitedly. 

He was right. The food looked divine, and Albus fully intended on enjoying it. Right after he addressed something first. Looking up, Albus made nervous eye contact with Scorpius Malfoy, who sat next to Meiying and, coincidentally, across from Albus. 

Albus opened his mouth. 

“I’m really sorry about the thing on the train.” He said quietly. 

“It’s fine, i-” 

“It’s not fine… Rosie and I, we know better than anyone what it’s like to carry someone else’s reputation. It’s … not great. I’m really sorry.” 

Albus stared intently at Scorpius as he spoke, willing the other boy to understand how sincerely apologetic he was for the entire incident. Scorpius was clearly flustered by Albus’ intensity, but he locked eyes with Albus anyway and fumbled his way through the acceptance of Albus’ apology. 

“I’m, um, yes. Okay. Let’s start over?” Scorpius asked.

Albus offered Scorpius a small, relieved smile, receiving a similar smile in response. 

“I’m Albus. This is Dori” 

“Pleasure.” Dori threw out, with a cheeky wink for Meiying, who rolled her eyes as the corners of her lips twitched upwards.

“I’m Scorpius” Scorpius replied before turning his head to Meiying so she could introduce herself.

“Meiying; Mei if I decide I like you.” She said with a smile, eliciting a laugh from Dori.

Looking between Dori, Scorpius and Meiying, a pleasant feeling settled into Albus’ stomach. He thought to himself, that perhaps the hat was right. He had a good feeling about Slytherin house.

This was where he’d make his true friends.

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

During dinner, the ghosts of Hogwarts made their appearances, with one particularly terrifying ghost appearing suddenly before Scorpius, who startled and muttered out a curse.

The Ghost- who Albus eventually learned from a third year student was the ghost of Slytherin house: The Bloody Baron, made no move to engage with any of the students, he simply floated along the table, dragging his chains as he did so. 

Some time throughout the feast, dinner had given way to desert, and Albus, who had already been full to bursting, couldn't help but continue to stuff his face. 

Albus quietly chatted with Dori, Scorpius and Meiying, all throughout the feast. The conversation flowed easily; he learned a bit about all three of them, and shared a bit about himself.

He had spoken briefly to a few of the other first years too, learning their names and where they were from.

At the end of the feast, McGonagall stood up to address the school once more.

“All students from second year, up, may begin making your way back to your common rooms. Seventh year prefects, please remain to collect the first years’ class schedules, from your heads of house. Then you may begin leading your new housemates back to your common rooms.” She instructed.

Slowly, all students except the first years and the seventh year prefects exited the Great Hall, and eventually, a slight, redhead girl and a behemoth of a boy approached the Slytherin first years.

“Hello, and welcome to Slytherin house!” The girl said enthusiastically, clapping her hands together. “My name is Henrietta,” 

“And I’m Lev.” Said the behemoth standing next to her.

“We’re going to show you lot to the common room. I’ll lead from the front, and Lev will round the back, to make sure none of you get stuck on the moving stairs, or the trick steps. Once we’re in the common room, Lev will be handing out all of your class schedules for the year.” She said quickly, Lev standing silently next to her.

“Right! Follow me then.” 

Alongside Dori, Scorpius and Meiying, Albus allowed himself to be lead out of the Great Hall by Henrietta.

As they made their way through the halls of Hogwarts to their new common room, Albus found himself thinking that he was going to have a lot of trouble remembering how to get anywhere within the castle. There seemed to be so many turns and stairs and corridors, that even the landmarks he tried picking out for himself didn’t seem to register properly in his mind before he’d forget them.

It didn’t help at all that Henrietta set such a brisk pace, calling for them all to “Hurry now!” 

“I don’t think i’m going to remember any of this?.” Scorpius muttered to himself, mild panic in his voice as he unwittingly voiced Albus’ inner thoughts..

Eventually, they reached a set of spiralling stairs that seemed particularly uninviting. The stairs were rather narrow with the candles lighting them flickering low, casting everyone into shadows. 

“You know, when my dad said the Slytherin common room was the  _ coolest _ , I didn’t realise he meant it literally,” Dori joked, as they followed the group down each step.

Albus laughed at the dry joke, agreeing with Dori that yes, it was definitely becoming noticeably cooler the further down they descended the steps. In fact, Albus was sure he could hear Meiying’s teeth beginning to chatter.

Once they had all emerged from the bottom of the stairwell into a dimly lit hallway, Henrietta continued leading them further into the hall, taking a few corners before finally stopping in front of what appeared to be their destination- a slate grey wall.

It seemed to be an exceptionally ordinary wall, until it noticed the presence of the Slytherin crowd gathered before it and shimmered silver for a moment. 

That shimmer evoked a murmur from a few of the first years, Albus included.

To Albus’ mind, the wall seemed to be welcoming them, happy to allow them into their home for the school year.

Turning to face the small group of Slytherin first years, Henrietta addressed them all. 

“For those of you who haven’t figured it out, we’re currently in the Hogwarts dungeons, and this wall behind me is the entrance to the Slytherin common room. There’s a password, which you will need to say to the wall for it to let you in. Like so.”

Turning back, she clearly spoke to the wall.

_ “Salamander Spring.” _

Shimmering once more, the wall slid open to reveal the Slytherin common room. 

Turning to face the first years, Henrietta gestured them all in.

The Slytherin common room had two floors. The bottom floor was a wide open space. The walls and floor were rough stone, and from the ceiling hung two large silver chandeliers. Two windows, going from the floor to the ceiling, looked right into the lake and bracketed an enormous, ornate marble fireplace, which held a roaring fire. 

Upon the mantle of the fireplace hung a massive portrait of the most royal looking snake Albus had ever seen. Silver bodied with glowing emerald eyes, Albus was struck by the thought, as he watched it writhe subtly within its frame, that he’d never thought a snake could look majestic. 

A long black sofa sat in front of the fire, and matching black armchairs with green and silver throws were cast strategically around the rest of the space in clusters, accompanied by little black tables. 

An opening in the wall on the bottom floor sat between two wide, curved sets of stairs that led to the upper floor.

The upper floor had a balcony, overlooking the bottom, and the floor was decorated with large desks, and armchairs. There were shelves of books lined along the walls. A slightly smaller fireplace than the one on the bottom floor, blazed in the corner.

Henrietta allowed the first years a few moments to gaze around their new common room and take in all they could, before clearing her throat to gather their attention. 

“Alright, Lev is going to hand all of your class schedules out now. Lessons will begin on Monday, so you’ll have the next two days to explore the castle and get your bearings.” 

Lev handed the schedules out in alphabetical order, so Albus received his schedule nearer to the end of the roll. He put it in the pocket of his robes, thinking to study it later. 21qOnce Lev had given everyone their schedules, Henrietta cleared her throat for their attention again. 

“I mentioned outside that there is a password to the Slytherin common room. That password is changed every fortnight, and will be posted to that noticeboard.” She informed them all, pointing to a giant black noticeboard.

“Right then. Now all that's left is to show you to your dormitories. If you’ll all follow Lev.” 

All of the first years followed Lev as he headed everyone through the opening between the stairs into a wide hallway. A smaller version of the chandeliers hanging in the main space, hung in the center of the hallway, and seven framed archways, all covered with a set of emerald curtains, were evenly spaced along the walls- three on either side, and one in the end wall.

“All of the dormitories are down this hallway.” Lev called to them.

Albus watched as Lev drew back the curtains to an archway in the center of the right wall, to reveal a set of downward stairs.

“About halfway down these stairs, there’s a fork that’ll lead to your dormitories. Girls, you’re on the left and boys, you’re on the right.” He said to them.

“You’ll find that your trunks and your pets are already in your dormitories, next to your beds. These will be your dorms for the next seven years, so make yourselves comfortable.” He said, before looking to Henrietta.

“If any of you need anything, you can leave a note on the noticeboard, and we’ll find you. All of you should settle in for the night. Breakfast begins at seven o’clock in the morning, and ends at nine. Then lunch begins at twelve, and finishes at quarter past one. Dinner begins at six o’clock, and ends at eight. You can make your way into the Great Hall between any of those times. Also, we will post maps of the school to the noticeboard, so you may take one of those to help you make your way places. I suggest you all start to familiarise yourselves with the castle this weekend.” Henrietta told them chipperly.

Albus thought that the prefects were done after that, but Lev addressed them all one more time.

“Before Henrietta and I go, I will share with you that Slytherin house is … isolated. We have a reputation that precedes us, and it isn't a good one. It's best if you lot get along, because the other houses won't associate with our house. Even some of the teachers will turn a blind eye if we have an issue. So we band together in this house, and we stick up for each other. Do you all understand?” He said seriously.

The entire group of first years nodded their heads, peering around at each other.

Satisfied that they’d done and said all they needed to, Henrietta and Lev said goodnight, and made their way to their own dormitories, which happened to be through the archway to the immediate right of the one Albus and his fellow first years currently stood in front of. 

Descending the steps, the first years stayed silent, all thinking about what Lev had said. 

At the fork, Scorpius quietly arranged to meet with Meiying at the noticeboard in the morning so they could go have breakfast together, and they separated to settle into the dorms.

The boys dormitory was a deceptively large, open space, that contained six wide four poster beds with emerald green curtains. There were three beds against either side wall. On one side of each bed was a bedside table, and on the other, a single desk. A thick, green rug ran along the centre of the room, leading to a large bay window seat, decorated with pillows and throws. The window looked into the lake.

Albus’ trunk sat at the end of the bed closest to the window, along the right hand wall. On top of his trunk sat his ferret, Siriol, who was moving restlessly about her cage. Albus went to let her out.

“Only this area.” He told her as he opened her cage, knowing she’d understand him. She gave him a grateful nuzzle on his hand, before scampering around the bed to familiarise herself with the new space.

Albus turned to glance around the dormroom, looking to see what beds Scorpius and Dori got. He saw that Scorpius was in the bed opposite Albus’, and Dori was in the bed closest to the door. 

Albus had been about to open his trunk to get something when one of the other boys, who he hadn't yet spoken to, called out around the room.

“Can anyone see a lizard? Mine isn't in his cage.” His panicked voice called out.

Albus turned to see who’d spoken- it was a short boy with black hair, who was searching frantically around his area for his lizard, muttering quickly under his breath as he did so.

Albus searched his own area for a lizard, but didn't find anything. He noticed all the other boys doing the same. Eventually, one of the boys Albus hadn’t yet spoken to, announced that he’d found the short boy’s lizard.

“It’s here, under my bed.” The boy who’d found the lizard said.

The short boy hurried over and crouched down, pulling his lizard into his hands.

“Ah, thanks.” The boy said, shuffling his lizard into only one hand so that he could reach his other hand out to shake hands with the boy who’d found his pet.

“I’m Jakob. Neustroski. Good to meet you.” He said.

“Etienne Zabini.” The other boy responded, accepting the outstretched hand and shaking it firmly.

Turning, Neustroski faced the rest of them. 

“Thanks for all looking for my lizard, I really appreciate it. I met some of you at the feast, but not all of you. Shall we go around and introduce ourselves?” He asked.

Looking around at each other and nodding their heads yes to him, Neustroski introduced himself first.

“I’m Jakob Neustroski. I’m a halfblood. And this is Bolt.” He said, holding up his lizard. Then he looked to Zabini.

“Etienne Zabini. Pureblood. I don't have pet.” He said coolly, before looking at Dori.

“I’m Dori. Or Nott, if we’re doing last names.” He took a second to laugh at the pun he had made. 

“Halfblood. Also no pet.” Dori said with amusement, before he looked to the next boy.

“I’m Beckett. Beckett Grimauldi. Um, I’m a Halfblood, and that's my cat, Ember.” Grimauldi said, pointing to a ball of fur on his bed.

Then it was Albus’ turn. He’d had never had to introduce himself by blood status before. He supposed it was an odd Slytherin custom that he would just go along with.

“I’m Albus Potter. Halfblood.” He said before issuing a low whistle that had Siriol poking her head out from under his bed.

“And that’s my ferret, Siriol.” Albus finished, before looking to Scorpius.

“Scorpius Malfoy. Ah, Pureblood. This is my cat, Nyx.” He said, gesturing towards his feet, where a black cat was weaving in and out of his legs, purring.

With the introductions all done, they all turned to resume what they had been doing prior. 

Albus moved to his trunk to get out a piece of parchment, a quill, and an ink pot. When he had all those things, he went and sat at his desk, and wrote a letter to his parents.

It wasn’t a particularly long letter, but it would do, he thought, as he read it to himself.

_ Dear Mum and Dad, _

_ Well dad, you were right- the sorting hat did give me a choice. But, well, I didn't choose Gryffindor. Actually, I didn’t choose anything- I just told it to place me where it wanted to; where it felt I would do best. It chose Slytherin, which I’m quite happy about to be honest with you. I hope you aren't too disappointed, especially you, mum. _

_ The common room is really cool. Did you know that it looks out into the lake? And there's this really cool portrait of a snake that hangs above the fireplace.  _

_ The prefects said that most of the other houses don’t really like Slytherins, so we should all be friends with each other. I’m okay with that, because I've made a few friends already, three to be exact. I really like them, and I think you’d both really like all of them, too. The other Slytherin first years seem alright, but I haven't spoken to them much. _

_ I miss you both. _

_ Love, Al. _

Folding it up and leaving it on his desk, Albus figured he’d send it tomorrow, after breakfast.

Staying at his desk, Albus pulled his class schedule from his pocket and began studying it. Slytherin had Herbology and Charms with Ravenclaw, History of Magic and Transfiguration with Hufflepuff, and Defence Against the Dark Arts and Potions with Gryffindor. His very first lesson for the year would be Herbology with the Ravenclaws.

Having finished perusing his schedule, calling out goodnight to the other occupants of the dorm room, Albus stood and pulled his curtains shut around his bed. He retrieved his pajamas from his trunk, and after changing, settled into his bed. He was feeling rather tired now, and as he began drifting off to sleep, Albus felt Siriol clamber up onto his bed and ball up next to his face. Muttering a soft ‘Goodnight’ to her, Albus drifted off completely. 

Over the next day and a half, Albus spent all of his time with Dori, Scorpius and Meiying- who they had taken to simply calling Mei. They had taken one map from the board to share between them and explored as much as they could of the castle- including the grounds. 

The first place they had been to visit was the Owlery, so they could all send off the letters they’d written for their parents. Once that was done, the four of them started to make their way down from the Owlery when they came across an older boy sporting a Gryffindor scarf, who eyed Scorpius, and then Albus, with extreme caution. Scorpius stayed quiet, studiously avoiding any eye contact with the boy as Dori subtly shifted so that he was between the Gryffindor boy and Scorpius.

After that, the four of them decided to continue on their mini tour by looking for their classrooms so they wouldn’t get lost on Monday. Once they had done that, they’d had lunch, and then gone wandering about the grounds some more. They quickly found the Quidditch pitch, and did a lap of the lake.

Albus had also taken the other three to meet Hagrid, who they found tending to his pumpkin patch outside of his hut. 

He had invited them in and chatted with them about a ‘special creature’ he had gotten ‘special permission’ to bring in for his sixth and seventh year Care of Magical Creatures classes. Scorpius was particularly interested in hearing about the magical creatures, and it endeared him greatly to Hagrid, who had been initially sketchy of allowing a Malfoy into his hut.

They’d visited with Hagrid for a couple of hours before they decided to head back to the castle for dinner. As they were leaving his hut, Albus gave Hagrid his assurances that he would be coming to the tea that Hagrid had invited him and his brother to, on Friday. With that, the four first years set back off to the castle.

Albus hadn’t run into any of his family members once over the two days they’d had to explore. Probably because he had been avoiding all of them. He wasn’t sure he was ready for the inevitable teasing he would face for being the first Slytherin.

The night before school lessons began found Albus, Scorpius, Dori and Mei, settling into four available armchairs in the rather empty upper floor of the Slytherin common room, chatting with each other for hours on end. They talked about the classes they were excited for, and where else they wanted to explore in the castle, and whether they’d do well at Hogwarts. They talked about their favorite quidditch teams, and music groups, their individual hobbies, and what they might like to do when they were older.

Eventually, the topic of their families came up. Albus found all three of their upbringings to be very interesting. 

Mei had a Wizard father and a Muggle mother, so Albus had naturally assumed she was a Half-blood like himself. Dori clearly thought the same as Albus did, because he said, 

“Oh, you’re a Half-blood too?” 

Her response had not been the simple “Yes”, that Albus had been expecting.

“No,” she said, “I’m actually a Pureblood. Not that that means anything at all really.” She stated with a snort.

At that, Albus, Scorpius and Dori, shot looks of confusion at her. 

Seeing the looks on all of their faces, Mei let out a short laugh and then launched into a brief explanation.

“My mother died when I was two, so I don’t remember her very well. I’ve been raised by my step-mother- who’s a muggle- since I was five. When I refer to ‘my mum’, she’s who I’m talking about. But my birth mother, she was a Pureblood witch.” She said.

Understanding dawned on all three boys, and she smiled at them all, shrugging her shoulders once.

She talked a little bit more about her family, and mentioned that she had two older sisters, and two older brothers, who were all very close in age to each other, but a fair bit older than her. 

“Anyway,” She said eventually, looking around at them, “What about you lot?”

Dori talked about his family next, and shared that he was an only child who, in his own words, was a bit of an accident.

“Yeah, my parents love me and all, but I wasn't actually in any of their plans.” Dori informed them all, joking. 

“Dad’s parents were death-eaters, and dad was being investigated by the Ministry for also being in with the dark side during the second war, so he figured he’d shack up with my mum, who’s Muggleborn and then they’d think he couldn't be in with Voldemort. Except well, a few Firewhiskey’s too many one night, and, bam! I came to be.” 

He’d then gone on to reveal that his parents hadn’t been together since he was two years old, and they had what he called a ‘week about’ arrangement with him. 

“One week with mum and one week with dad.” He told them.

Dori talked about his family for a while longer, telling them about his Muggle family members, who he seemed to adore, and his dad's parents, who were still in Azkaban, and who he had to go with his dad to visit once a month.

Soon it was Albus’ turn to share. 

“Er, I have three siblings.” Albus began.

“Well, technically two, but Teddy, the oldest is my dad’s god-child, and he was raised with us. So we’ve always considered him one of us.” He said, feeling the need to explain his family as properly as Mei and Dori had explained theirs.

“I’m the middle child. Mum was already at home with James, and dad was working as an Auror, so my parents didn't really have to change anything drastically to accommodate for me.” Albus told them with a wry grin. 

“My parents are great. My dad, he’s excessively proud of us all. And mum’s really on to it- nothing gets past her, honestly. Although I think Kreature helps her with that.”

Frowning in confusion, Meiying asked Albus who Kreature was.

“Oh, he’s my dad’s house-elf. He’s bloody ancient, and a bit batty.” Albus told her.

Albus chatted about his family for a little bit longer. He told them about the Weasley gatherings they had, and all his cousins; and his Gran’s fantastic cooking.

Finally, he turned to Scorpius.

“Your turn?” He asked him.

Scorpius seemed to hesitate for a moment before he started talking.

“Well, I’m an only child. Mother had quite a bad time carrying me, so her and Father decided to have no more.” Scorpius told them.

“And Mother has family, but they feel quite uncomfortable around Father, so we don't see them much. People don’t really like to associate with us, because, well, it’s exactly as your cousin said. It’s a terrible look to be associated with the Malfoy name.” His tone was both slightly resigned and embarrassed.

An awkward silence descended upon them for a moment, no one knowing what to say, before Scorpius started speaking again.

“My father, he’s really protective of me.” He told them all quietly. “He was really worried about sending me to Hogwarts. He thought I might struggle here, because of who he is. That I might not be able to make friends and whatnot, because I’m a Malfoy.”

Dori stared hard at Scorpius for a moment, and then at Albus, too. He seemed to be debating something in his head.

“You know,” Dori began slowly, sounding more serious than Albus had yet heard him sound, “both of you know, who your parents are, what they’ve done, what's been said about them in the papers, it doesn't affect how I-” 

“We.” Mei cut in gently, before nodding at Dori to continue.

“How  _ we _ see you _. _ ” Dori finished.

Both Scorpius and Albus offered Dori sincere ‘thank you’s’, and Scorpius, looking much lighter than he had a minute prior, resumed talking about his family. He revealed that his father’s mother spoilt him quite rotten, and it drove his mother a little bit crazy. He mentioned that his father's father was quite a hard man, especially since his release from Azkaban, but he did love his family. He talked about his house-elf, Sookie, who cried worse than his mother at his departure to Hogwarts.

Once Scorpius had finished speaking, Mei glanced at her watch, and after pulling an ‘oops’ face at the time, she suggested that they’d better get to bed.

As they headed off to the dormitories, agreeing to meet at the common room entrance to go to breakfast together, Meiying turned towards the girls dorms, called out goodnight, and disappeared through the door.

The next morning at breakfast, a few Owl’s came in through the window, into the Great Hall. His dad’s snowy owl, Clearawen, was one of them. She swooped to a stop in front of Albus, nibbling at his ear affectionately as he untied two letters from her feet. Once she was free of the letters, she gave one last nibble to Albus’ ear before flying away.

Opening the first letter, Albus read it carefully.

_ Al, _

_ Your mother and I are proud of you, no matter what house you’re in, son. She was a bit put out that you thought she might be more disappointed in you than I would be. _

_ I snuck into the Slytherin common room once, in my second year at Hogwarts. It was… not the best. Honestly, it was a little bit ugly. I remember there being skulls all around, and the room itself having this greenish tinge. Is the decor still like that? _

_ I’m happy to hear that you’ve already made some friends. What are they like?  _

_ I miss you too, son. Write again soon. _

_ Love, Dad. _

Feeling a bit put out that his dad remembered the Slytherin common room as ugly, Albus made a mental note to write another letter to his dad and attach photos of the common room so he could see how  _ not ugly  _ his common room was. He was otherwise very settled by his dad’s response.

Opening the second letter, Albus read it just as carefully.

_ Al, _

_ How could you think I’d be disappointed in you, at all? I know you’re going to do fantastic, whatever house you’re in. You’re a kind, decent, good boy, and your being in Slytherin house isn’t going to change any of that. I’m always going to be proud of you.  _

_ Now, tell me more about your new friends. What are their names? What are they like. Give me details- I want to know all about them.  _

_ Also, unlike your father, I never snuck into the Slytherin common room, so I may need you to paint a clearer picture for me. Tell me more about what it’s like there. _

_ I want you to write to me after your first day, to tell me how your lessons go. _

_ I miss you, darling. _

_ Love, Mum. _

Feeling chuffed at his mother's response, Albus decided he couldn't wait to write his mum back, and tell her all about his new friends, and the Slytherin common room, and how his classes today went.

“You lot ready to head to class?” Albus asked his friends.

They all offered positive affirmations, and the four of them stood, collected their bags, and made their way to their first lesson for the school year.


	3. Chapter 3

The four of them made their way rather quickly to Greenhouse One for their first lesson of the year- Herbology with Professor Longbottom. They arrived to their class and saw that there were a fair few students already milling about. Albus recognised most of their faces from the sorting. No one spoke to them, but plenty of wary looks were shot in their direction; particularly towards Albus, which was admittedly unnerving for him.

The class began quite soon after that, with Neville, who Albus had to remember to call Professor Longbottom, inviting them all into the greenhouse and letting them settle in.

Their first Herbology lesson passed by rather quickly, with Professor Longbottom introducing them to the class and explaining what they would be doing for the term. They were to study plants and fungi, and discover their uses. Professor Longbottom’s enthusiasm for his subject was extremely apparent, and it encouraged them to approach the subject with a similar sort of enthusiasm. 

Throughout the entire lesson, there wasn’t a great deal of interaction between the Slytherin and Ravenclaw students, which apparently put out a few of the first year Slytherin girls.

“Honestly. We sat with them on the train  _ and  _ the boat. Now they won’t even look at us. Ridiculous!” A sturdy, dark haired girl whispered furiously to the girl next to her.

Albus had known but initially failed to comprehend that the Ravenclaw students were actively avoiding any interaction with the Slytherins, but he supposed it made sense. It certainly fit with what Lev had said to them to expect about Slytherin’s isolation.

Herbology finished with Professor Longbottom wishing them all well for the rest of their first day, and sending them on their way to their next class- Charms with Professor Flitwick.

The group of first years moved like a herd from the Herbology greenhouse, to the Charms classroom and despite there being limited interaction between the two houses, it was quite pleasant.

Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher and deputy head of the school, ushered all of the students inside when they arrived at his classroom. 

The  [ classroom ](http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Classroom) had three rows of desks, all facing the teacher's table, behind which sat a large upholstered chair with a high back. Two blackboards stood behind the teacher's table, and behind those, sat a small shelf with books and other objects.

“Welcome, students, to Charms.” Professor Flitwick began in a squeaky, high-pitched voice.

“Here, you will learn to understand both the theoretical and practical applications of basic charms, and as you progress throughout your years at this school, you will learn more advanced magic. As today is your first lesson, we’ll start by discussing the theory behind a simple levitation charm.”

As he spoke, he waved his own wand and floated feathers to the desk of every student.

“Now, we’ll get right in to it, shall we? I want you all to watch my wrists as I say the incantation for this charm:  _ Wingardium Leviosa. _ ”

The class watched in rapt attention as Flitwick performed the levitation charm with ease

“Now, as you say the incantation, you need to remember to swish and flick your wrist. Like so.”

Demonstrating the proper wrist movement, Flitwick directed everyone to draw their wands, and practice the movement, themselves.

“However, no one is to actually try and perform the spell. Thats for the next lesson, after you’ve written me an essay.”

Charms finished soon after, and unlike Longbottom, Flitwick gave them homework to do.

“I want you all to complete one parchment on the uses of the levitation charm, and how to correctly perform it. I expect it to be done by Wednesday.” Flitwick told them all in his high pitched voice. 

“Now, off you go.” He said, dismissing them.

The first years filed out.

“We have History of Magic and Transfiguration with the Hufflepuffs after lunch.” Scorpius said, looking over his schedule as they headed to the Great Hall for lunch.

“Teddy and James both reckon History of Magic is a real bore.” Albus remarked.

“Yeah, my sisters said the same. Mu said the history itself is interesting, but the teacher makes everything seem boring.” Mei added, speaking of her sisters whom had both already come to and finished at Hogwarts.

“Brilliant! Sounds like it’ll be a muck around class then.” Dori said, grinning impishly, as they finally entered the Great Hall.

Eating lunch was a rather quick affair, and the four of them found themselves with forty minutes to spare before their next class began.

“Are we going to go anywhere, or shall we just sit in here?” Dori asked looking at them.

They were all silent for a moment, looking between each other.

“Ooh, I have a muggle deck of cards on me. We can play with those if you want?” Mei offered.

“What, you just carry a muggle deck of cards around with you all the time?” Dori asked with mild amusement.

Mei made a face at him in reply.

“I got them as a going away gift. I checked our class schedule for the day this morning and saw that we had History of Magic. My sisters had already told me how boring the class was, so I figured I’d bring them to amuse myself.” 

Scorpius seemed extremely interested in playing with the muggle cards, having never played any sort of muggle game in his life, so that's what they spent the next forty minutes doing. Mei taught them three games, the last of which Dori already knew. 

Albus had played a couple of muggle card games in his life, being that his aunt was muggleborn, but not very many. He decided very quickly that he quite liked them, especially the game Mei called  _ ‘Bull’ _ . 

He also reached the conclusion very quickly that Dori was  _ extremely  _ competitive, which made it rather amusing when he came dead last in seven out of the nine games they played.

“That was a have, and the three of you are a pack of  _ liars  _ and  _ cheats _ .” Dori said sulkily, stabbing his finger first at Albus, then at Scorpius, then Mei.

Albus grinned. 

“The whole purpose of the game is to see who can lie the best, mate. You’re supposed to cheat.” He informed Dori, merrily.

“In the other games! You all cheated in the other games. I can’t figure out how, but you did!” Dori replied, pouting.

“Okay, well, figure out how he cheated on the way to class or we’ll be late.” Scorpius said amusedly as Mei gathered the cards and put them back into the pocket of her robes.

Dori huffed, but didn’t say much else, instead choosing to sulk heavily. With that, the four of them stood and made their way to History of Magic. 

History of Magic with the Hufflepuff’s proved to be just as boring as Albus had been told to expect it was. The teacher- a Hogwarts ghost named Binns- was monotonous and dull. Twenty minutes into the lesson, Scorpius was dozing off into his hand next to Albus, and Dori and Mei were playing a muggle card game together at the table in front of Albus and Scorpius. They were clearly finding the class as interesting as Albus found it, which was to say, not at all.

When the class finally ended, the four of them headed slowly towards their next class- Transfiguration with Professor Goldberg. It took mere minutes to reach the Transfiguration classroom, because it was rather close to the History of Magic classroom.

The Transfiguration professor was a short stocky man, who was excessively stern and rather intimidating. The class were barely sat in their seats when he was demanding their attention.

“I have you three times a week- on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. We will be taking notes and doing theory for the first two lessons of the week, and on the third, we will do wandwork. I expect you all to be here on time, with the correct equipment. Under no circumstance will I accept excuses or tolerate ill behaviour.” He barked out.

His brusque tone startled most of the students, who, until that point, hadn’t had any particular teacher be overly harsh.

The Transfiguration lesson passed by far quicker than Albus thought it would, but still not fast enough. Come the end of the lesson, Goldberg set them slightly more homework than Flitwick had, and dismissed them all impatiently.

That night, Albus wrote a long letter to his parents, telling them how his first day of classes had gone. He also figured he might as well bite the bullet and let them know that one of his new friends was a Malfoy. He didn't really know how they’d feel about that, but he hoped they wouldn’t be too bothered.

The next morning, Albus was sitting in the Great Hall with Dori, Scorpius and Mei, finishing breakfast. 

Scorpius, Albus was coming to realise, was not a morning person. He was sulking grumpily about nothing and everything, eyeing everything with extreme distaste. Albus found it more than a little amusing to watch his friend mutter under his breath and shoot glares at random other students who looked at him funny.

Scorpius was still a little grumpy when they arrived at their first lesson of the day.

Herbology began and passed by rather quickly, and before Albus knew it, he was seated in his next class- Defense Against the Dark Arts (DADA) with the Gryffindors. 

Albus was quite looking forward to this class, for no other reason than it was the first class he had with Rose, and he had found himself missing his cousin a little bit. She had been his only friend for a long time, and they had always thought that they would go into the same house and spend their Hogwarts years together- but that hadn’t been the case.

He didn’t pay much attention during the class, because he didn’t particularly care to hear the DADA teacher waffle on about ‘the best Wizarding school in the whole world: Ilvermorny’. His cousin obviously wasn’t paying much attention either, because half way through the lesson, he had a note slipped to him from the Gryffindor boy sat in front of him, which read: 

_ Al, _

_ Let’s have lunch together. Wait for me outside, after class.  _

_ Rose. _

After he read the letter, Albus looked up and made eye contact with his cousin and offered her a quick nod of his head.

When the class finally ended and the group of first years had filed out, Albus’ cousin greeted him with an enthusiastic hug.

“Al! Merlin, it feels like I haven’t seen you in bloody weeks. You remember Lola?”

Lola from the boat stood next to Rose and offered Albus and Dori a smile and wave, then confidently stuck her hand out and made introduction of herself to Scorpius and Mei.

“Nice to meet you both; I’m Lola.”

“Mei.”

“Scorpius.”

Rose regarded Scorpius hesitantly for a moment before asking him for a quiet word; they ushered away further along the corridor to chat before returning, both looking more at ease.

Mei regarded Scorpius with a questioning look, to which he responded with a small smile and a quick nod. 

“We’re good now.”

Nodding her head slightly, Mei turned her gaze to Rose and offered her a small smile, receiving a smile in return.

“Shall we go then?” Rose asked the group brightly.

And off their little group of six went to have lunch together in the Great Hall.

The next day, they had their first Potions lesson of the year, which Albus was really looking forward to. He’d always thought that potions were so fascinating, and it was his life’s goal to create his own potion that would help people like his Uncle George.

The Potions classroom was in the dungeons. The teacher, a jolly little woman called Professor Bruxom, became stern only once to give them a warning.

“Now, I want to be very clear. I won't tolerate anyone messing with someone else’s potion. If I catch anyone tampering with another students potion, I’ll be issuing them a detention. What’s more, I’ll deduct thirty house points from your house. Are we all clear?”

It surprised Albus that she directed her statement to the Gryffindor students, instead of the Slytherins. The way she phrased her statement made Albus think that she quite often caught students trying to tamper with someone else’s potion.

For their first Potions lesson, Bruxom decided that they’d each be making a simple Alihotsy Draught.

“Now, this potion is one of the simplest you could make. There isn’t much that could go wrong, so this will just be a fun little way to introduce you all to Potions.” She told the class.

“Do make sure though, to not inhale the potion, or it could cause hysteria. Right, children- page 38, if you will.”

Bruxom’s simple potion, turned out not to be so simple for Mei, who’s cauldron was playing host to a gunky, orange, mess, half an hour into the lesson.

“For  _ fuck sake, _ ” Mei hissed irritably as her cauldron spat an orange clump onto her robes. Pressing her fingers to her temples, she continued muttering to herself about what an absolute  _ joke _ she was, before slinking away to seek assistance from Bruxom.

“You know, of all the classes I thought that she’d struggle with, I didn’t really pick potions to be it.” Dori said with a hint of amusement as they both watched her talk agitatedly with Professor Bruxom.

Albus laughed, nodding his head in agreement. Of all of them, Mei had been the one to breeze through all of their classes so far; for her to be so tragically terrible at what honestly was very simple, was both surprising and amusing. 

Turning his head, Albus put his focus back on his own potion, which boiled steadily. He was so focused on his potion, he barely noticed someone approaching him. Before Albus knew what was happening, he had Flobberworm mucus spilt on his robes ‘on accident’, by a random Gryffindor girl.

“Oops, I’m so clumsy.” She said, smirking as a bewildered Albus frowned at her. 

“What did you do that for?” Dori snapped at the girl, face screwed up.

“Do what for?” She said, playing dumb.

Albus frowned, inspecting his robes.

Dori gave her a hard look. Then his eyes flickered off to something else for a moment, before flicking back to the girl. Narrowing his eyes, Dori shrugged his shoulders at her.

“Whatever. Karma.” Dori told her abruptly, before turning back to his own potion.

Albus was slightly confused by Dori’s sudden change in attitude, and the girl clearly was too. She opened her mouth to reply, but Scorpius cut her off. He pointed to her potion brew which was bubbling very dramatically out of her cauldron in varying shades of brown, and said, very calmly, “You should probably go fix that.”

Turning to see what Scorpius was talking about, she let out a small shriek, and ran over to try and salve what she could of her draught.

Mei appeared suddenly and quietly at Albus’ side, startling him a little. Both Dori and Scorpius regarded her with the same mildly amused, very impressed look. 

“I don’t know how you managed that as slyly as you did, but i’m glad you did.” Scorpius muttered.

Albus spun his head to face Mei, who had a smug gleam in her eye.

“Wait. Did  _ you _ ruin her potion?” Albus asked Mei, starting to catch on.

She shrugged one shoulder at him.

“And no one noticed?”

He had to admit, he was very impressed.

“I’ve been told I have very quick hands.” She responded smugly.

Albus couldn’t suppress the sudden urge he had to laugh in utter delight. He really had found his people.

Bruxom approached their table shortly after, to assess the potion Mei had asked for her help in fixing.

“Well dearie, not everyone can be gifted in this art.” Bruxom said kindly, a moment after she’d looked into Mei’s cauldron. “Good on you for giving it a go!”

“I think maybe next time though, you’d better partner up with someone.” Bruxom said, patting Mei’s shoulder and receiving a scowl in response. 

“You, on the other hand. Your draught looks like it’s coming along perfectly. Perhaps you could help Ms. Fawley in the next lesson?” Bruxom said, eyeing Albus’ draught happily.

Albus beamed. He loved potions.

The rest of the day passed relatively quickly, and midnight eventually saw a tired group of Slytherins, gathered with an equally tired group of Hufflepuffs on the astronomy tower, charting a constellation that Albus could barely recall the name of.

The next day was Thursday, and Thursday afternoon meant the first Quidditch lesson of the year. Slytherin and Gryffindor first years gathered on the Quidditch pitch, waiting for their first flying lesson to begin.

The teacher was the same one Albus’ parents had had- although now she was very aged- named Hooch. Her skin was weathered, and lined, but her gleaming, yellow, hawk eyes, were sharp, and her voice was firm.

She began the lesson by blowing her whistle sharply and giving them instructions.

“All of you, next to a broom! Hurry up!”

“Now, hold your right hand out over your brooms. In a nice, strong voice, I want you all to say ‘Up’ until your broom is in your hand.” 

There were a chorus of “Up’s” and two brooms flew immediately upwards, the rest coming slightly off of the ground before settling back onto the grass. Scorpius stood there in surprise, one of only two students to have gotten their brooms up and into their hand on the first go; Rose stood there in smug satisfaction, the other of the students to have gotten it on the first go.

Albus, Dori and Mei, had called their own brooms into their hands shortly after Scorpius and Rose had, and once the final student had his broom in his hand, Madam Hooch began issuing instructions for them to mount the brooms and hover. 

This was trickier than most of the class had anticipated it would be.

Scorpius hovered very steadily; Albus, steadily enough; but Dori and Mei were both rather shaky on their brooms, although they both were getting steadier the longer they hovered.

By the time the Quidditch lesson had ended, Scorpius was in a fantastic mood. The four of them headed back to the common room for the afternoon, Scorpius chatting excitedly all the way.

“Did you see? It came right up!” He kept saying excitedly.

“You were great, Scor!” Albus told his friend earnestly.

“I was, wasn’t I?” Scorpius agreed easily, drawing a laugh from all of them.

That night, the four of them went to bed early, after completing their homework.

Friday morning saw Albus receive letters from his parents, which put him in a fantastic mood for the entire day. Both of them had told him that despite there being tension between the Weasley/Potters and the Malfoys, they weren’t upset about his being friends with a Malfoy. They were just happy for him that he had made what sounded like such good friends, so quickly. 

Classes came and went before Albus even knew it, and he was amazed to realise, he had completed his first full week at Hogwarts.

Albus had plans for tea with Hagrid that night. Hagrid had invited both Albus and James before the Hogwarts school year had even started, and Albus was quite excited for it. James had sent him a brief letter that morning, saying to meet him in the school courtyard so they could head to Hagrid’s hut, together. Albus had been waiting in the courtyard for five minutes when he heard his name being called.

“Al!” James called out, as he swaggered over. 

Once James reached Albus, the pair of them began walking down to Hagrid’s hut. They’d been walking in silence for only a moment when James started speaking.

“So. You're in Slytherin.” James began.

“Nothing gets passed you, James.” Albus intoned sarcastically, inciting a huff from his brother.

“I know I teased you about it all the time, Al, but that's all it was. Teasing. I didn't think you'd actually go and get yourself into bloody Slytherin.” James said, looking at Albus.

“I didn’t choose Slytherin, the Sorting Hat chose Slytherin. And mum and dad don't have a problem with it, why should you?” Albus pointed out to his brother, a little bit defensively.

James’ face looked incredulous.

“Al, you can't be happy to be in that house? You literally were screaming on Platform nine and three quarters that you  _ wouldn't _ be in Slytherin!” James said.

Albus glanced sheepishly at his brother and shrugged his shoulders, unable to find a response. He had behaved rather poorly towards Slytherin house, prior to his coming to Hogwarts.

“So you’re happy then? To be in Slytherin? Like, you’re alright?” James asked Albus in a feigned casualness.

Albus gave James an odd look for a moment, before a small smile played across his lips.

“Jamie, are you worried about me?” Albus asked his brother teasingly.

“No.” James said quickly.

“You are!” Albus said, laughing. “Don’t worry Jamie, I’m good in Slytherin. I’ve made friends and everything.” Albus told his brother, smiling.

“Yes, I know you’ve made friends, Al. I’ve seen you hanging out with the Malfoy. And the other two. The girl you hang out with is really tall.”

The pair of them continued on towards Hagrid’s hut, playfully bantering the entire way.

Albus really enjoyed dinner with Hagrid. He joked with his brother, and shared his week with Hagrid, who was ecstatic to be having tea with them. When tea finished, Hagrid walked them back to the castle.

“Oh, Al, I almos’ forgot. Tell li’l Scorpius tha’ the Occamy should ‘atch any day now. I’ll send ‘im an owl to let ‘im know when; if he’d like, he can come down to visit with em’.” Hagrid told Albus as they were walking.

James’ head had whipped around, and he stared agape at Hagrid.

“Hang on, Hagrid, you’re inviting Malfoy to your home? To visit with your Occamy?” James asked him, stunned.

“Well, why wouldn't I?” Hagrid asked him jovially.

“Er … because he’s a Malfoy.” James said.

“Aye, he is tha’. But he likes the Occamy- more in’erested than mos’ me class were.” Hagrid told James.

“How does Malfoy even know you have Occamy?” James asked Hagrid.

“Albus broug’ ‘im down las’ weekend to meet me, with the other two. I told ‘im all about ‘em.” Hagrid said pleasantly.

“Huh.” Was James’ intelligent response.

Ten minutes later, Albus and James were standing at the mouth of a wide staircase. Hagrid had bid them both good night, and gone back to his hut.

Right before the James and Albus separated to go to their common rooms, James struck up one last conversation.

“Al, I, uh, I suppose Malfoy can’t be all bad, yeah?” James said slowly.

“He’s brilliant.” Albus replied.

James smirked at that. 

“Aww, Al, got yourself a little crush?” He teased.

Albus rolled his eyes at his brother.

“Idiot.”

James chuckled, and ran his hands through his hair.

“It’s just that, er, I … you know what, nevermind. I’m off to bed now. Love you, loser. Night.” James said, as he turned and headed up the stairs.

“Night Jamie.” 

Albus followed James with his eyes for a second, mulling over that last sentence. What had James actually wanted to say? It wasn’t like his brother to censor himself.

Turning, Albus headed quickly for the dungeons. There, he entered the Slytherin common room, and found his friends huddled together upstairs, playing a muggle card game Mei called ‘ _ P’s and A’s’ _ .

“How was dinner, mate?” Dori said, quickly glancing up and offering an easy smile.

“It was good. Hagrid says ‘hi’. Oh, and Scor, he said the Occamy should hatch soon, so you can go down and see them. He said he’ll send you an owl when to go down.” Albus said.

Glancing up, Scorpius smiled wide. 

“Brilliant. I’ll write him to say you told me. Thanks mate.” He replied.

Albus spent the next few hours with Dori, Scorpius and Mei, playing a number of muggle games, including one Dori introduced to them all, called  _ Pictionary _ . Some of the other first years joined in too, and Albus decided he quite liked the Flint girl. Olivia, her name was.

None of them wanted to sleep, because they had astronomy at Midnight, although Scorpius did doze off at one point. 

That weekend passed in a blur, and before Albus knew it, he was back in greenhouse one for his first lesson of week two.

The second week into classes taught Albus that he was definitely utter rubbish at nearly everything that included wandwork- outside of potions- so he started spending time every night going over the charms, jinxes and spells they’d learnt in class, with Mei or Dori. Mei worked out to be a slightly better teacher than Dori although Dori himself was better with the charms and spells, so Albus spent about half an hour practicing with her every night. Then they would spend another half hour after that going over their potions work for Mei. As awful as Albus was at wandwork, Mei was even worse at brewing potions. It was like her brain refused to engage with anything to do with potions, and she couldn’t actually focus when it came to remembering anything to do with it. She also kept mixing up the ingredients, which would turn her potion into something it shouldn't have been.

Before Albus knew it, three months at Hogwarts had passed by. He had settled into Hogwarts spectacularly, developing somewhat of a routine with his friends. They went to their classes and were ignored by their peers, continued to explore the grounds and the castle and visited with Hagrid every other week, had lunch with Rose and Lola (at the Slytherin table) every Saturday, played muggle games before their astronomy classes with the rest of the Slytherin first years, and just generally enjoyed their time together. 

Albus could honestly say, by this point, that he considered Dori, Scorpius and Mei to be his best friends. There was something about being with his little group that bought Albus an immense sense of  _ comfort  _ and belonging that he had always struggled to feel and it was  _ nice  _ to know that these three had chosen him for him - not because he was family, not because of his dad, but because they genuinely cared for his friendship.

Of course, he was friends with the other Slytherin first years too, because just as Lev had said, Slytherin house was quite isolated. Aside from Rose and Lola, Albus really didn’t interact with any first years outside of Slytherin.

It hadn't been as noticeable in the first couple of weeks at Hogwarts, but by early-October, it had become glaringly obvious to Albus, just how much the other houses avoided and distrusted the Slytherin students. All Slytherin students were apparently to be avoided at all times and regarded with extreme caution, less they commit some unspeakable act due to their ‘inherently bad nature’.

Albus thought it was truly one of the most ridiculous things he had ever borne witness to. One week prior, he had seen Jakob Neustroski trip over his lizard and nearly come to tears at the thought that he might have hurt it. What in the world was someone like that going to do to harm another student? It was ludicrous.

He supposed that it was better than the other students being actively hostile towards them, though. In saying that, Mei seemed to have a growing concern lately that Albus himself appeared to be a slight exception to the lack of active hostility. He didn’t necessarily think so, but if the three months he’d spent getting to know his friends had taught Albus anything, it was that Meiying Fawley had the most uncanny ability to be utterly  _ aware _ , even if she did pretend to be excessively average at everything.

He didn’t think that his bag breaking once, or the random occasion he was walked into, was cause for concern, but Mei was sure that Albus was being targeted.

  
  
  



	4. Chapter 4

Four days later, the four of them were sitting together upstairs in the common room, discussing their Christmas plans. Albus was going home for Christmas, which he was extremely excited about. He missed his parents dearly, and although he wrote them nearly every week, it wasn't the same as being with them in person.

Dori, Scorpius and Mei were all going home for Christmas as well. Of all of them, Dori was probably the least excited.

“I love my dad, I do.” Dori told them insistently. “But it’s his Christmas this year, which means we have to visit his parents. In Azkaban. I bloody hate Azkaban.” He complained to them all.

“That’s rough, mate.” Scorpius told him sympathetically.

“I’m sure your Christmas won't be  _ that  _ bad.” Albus told him, trying to be comforting.

He received a very dry look for his efforts. Shrugging his shoulders, Albus blatantly changed the subject to their DADA assignment that was due the next day. 

Three weeks later, the four of them were huddled together in their final class before Christmas break. No one had been paying very much attention, so Professor Longbottom had eventually decided to just let them chat amongst themselves for the afternoon.

That night, they travelled to Hogsmeade station, not in boats, but in carriages that were being drawn by invisible creatures. 

“My dad told me about the creatures that draw these things! They’re called Thestrals. My dad says that they look like skeletal horses with wings. They’re considered to be a bad omen, because they can only be seen by those who have witnessed death.” Scorpius remarked with interest, as the four of them clambered into one of the carriages.

The carriage ride didn’t last very long, and in no time at all, they were being drawn into Hogsmeade station, and boarding the Hogwarts Express. When the Hogwarts Express pulled into Kings Cross Station, the four of them hugged each other goodbye, and headed off to find their families. 

Albus quickly found his mum, dad and sister and was greeted warmly. He basked quietly in the affection they offered him while they waited for James.

Once his brother had made an appearance, the family of five departed for their home in Godric’s Hollow.

Later that night, Albus was sitting in his pyjamas at the kitchen table, chatting with his parents, Lily having gone to sleep by now and James hibernating in his bedroom.

“Tell me about your friends! What are they like? I know you’ve said so in letters, but tell me more.” Ginny eventually demanded of her son.

Albus smiled excitedly at his parents and recalled his friends. 

He had spent almost his every moment since the sorting with Dori, Scorpius and Mei. Because of this, he had come to know the three of them extremely well.

Dori was extremely competitive, fiercely protective and had the humour of an old man. He was sly and was quite possibly the smartest person in their year group; smarter, even, then Rose. He was also slightly terrifying, in an enthralling way. He knew and could perform magic well beyond what first years should have been able to, and Albus often found him practicing magic he shouldn't have known yet, with Mei.

Mei was the most shrewd person that Albus had ever met. She was patient and cunning, and played games five steps ahead of people who weren’t even aware a game was being played. She had everyone convinced she was utterly average, but the magic she practiced with Dori in between classes told a different story. She was brilliant.

Scorpius was, quite frankly, the nicest person that Albus had ever had the privilege of knowing. He was absolutely not a morning person, loved plants and animals, could find multiple constellations, and was just generally  _ lovely _ . He worked very hard and was the first to offer a hand if it was needed.

All in all, his friends made for an interesting group, but Albus thought they balanced each other out. 

“Scor is really nice. He works really hard and Hagrid really likes him. I’m pretty sure he’s Neville’s favourite student, too. He loves magical plants, and he wants to become a Care of Magical Creatures teacher after we finish at Hogwarts.

Dori’s funny, you’d really like him mum. He was the first friend I made at Hogwarts. He kind of has a humour like Uncle George, and he’s wicked clever. Like, smarter than Rose. Don’t tell her I said that. 

And Mei is really cool. She plays violin and She’s taught us loads of muggle games. She’s good at everything, I swear. Not like, amazing, but  _ good. _ She helps me with charms and stuff and I help her with potions because thats the one thing she isn’t good at and -”

Harry and Ginny Potter smiled fondly at their quiet son as he chatted happily about his friends. It wasn’t often that people could bring him out of his shell, and Harry especially, who had worried over how his youngest son would fare without them, would be forever grateful to the three subjects of their conversation, that even the thought of them managed to illicit such genuine joy from his son. 

Unable to stop himself, Harry ran a hand lovingly down the side of Albus’ face, startling an abrupt stop and a soft smile from him.

“You should invite your friends over for the summer holidays, Al. It would be lovely to have them.” Ginny offered, smiling fondly at her husband and son.

“Yeah?” Albus asked hopefully.

“Yeah,” Harry agreed.

When Albus had finished speaking with his parents, he kissed his them good night and shuffled off to his room. He wasn’t quite ready for sleep, so the knock at his door was welcome.

“Master Albus, Kreacher has brought you a hot drink.” The croaky voice of his father’s ancient house elf sounded through the door.

Smiling at the wobbly voice of his father’s ancient house-elf, Albus got up and opened his door.

Kreacher stood in the doorway. His violently shaky hands clasped tightly to a silver tray, on which sat a half empty mug of hot chocolate.

“Thank you, Kreacher.” Albus mumbled, accepting the offered tray.

Kreacher eyed Albus interestedly, before ambling away, muttering under his breath about something that Albus couldn’t quite catch. 

Before he knew it, his Christmas had passed and Albus was crammed into his father’s car, on his way to King’s Cross station, ready to head back to Hogwarts for the remainder of the term.

When they arrived at the station, Albus immediately began scanning the crowd, searching for his friends. Having spent every day since September with them, he’d found himself missing all three of them, a lot, over their two week separation.

He was so busy searching the crowd, he was completely unprepared to be tackled from the side and enveloped into a bear hug.

Turning his head, Albus was faced with a grinning Dori. 

“How was your Christmas, Al?” Dori asked Albus as he pulled back.

“It was great, mate! Thanks for the books by the way. That one on the ‘Most Potente Potions’ is wicked.”

“How was Azkaban?”

“Bloody  _ rubbish _ , mate. I tried to fake being ill, but dad still made me go.” Dori said, pulling a face.

“ _ Dad _ , can hear you.” A gruff voice said, coming up behind Dori.

Grinning again, Dori turned to face his dad.

“Dad, this is Albus. Al, my dad: Theodore” Dori said, making introductions.

Dori’s dad reached out a hand as Dori spoke, for Albus to shake.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Albus. My son speaks very highly of you.” He said firmly, as Albus accepted his handshake.

“You too, Mr Nott.” Albus replied, blushing slightly at the compliment.

The pleasure of meeting Mr Nott was clearly not felt by Albus’ mother, whose frame stiffened when she saw Albus shaking his hand. Her demeanour became quite frosty, her smile frozen in place, now clearly forced.

“Gin,” Albus heard his dad mutter to her softly, “let me talk.”

Mr Nott’s demeanour had changed, too. He became very uncomfortable. His eyes lingered warily on Albus’ parents, and he took a cautious step backwards- away from Albus. 

Albus also noticed that he placed himself in front of Dori in what could only be described as a protective manner.

“Nott.” Albus’ dad said after a tense moment, in a deceptively pleasant voice. Stepping forward, he held out a hand to Mr Nott, who hesitated for a moment before shaking the proffered hand.

“Potter.” He said cautiously. 

The pair of them seemed to come to some sort of silent, mutual understanding: strained politeness only, in front of their sons.

“Guess this is a good time to introduce you to my parents. Dori, this is my mum and dad: Harry and Ginny Potter. Mum, dad, this is Dori.” Albus mumbled awkwardly, indicating his friend to his parents.

“Nice to meet you, Mr and Mrs Potter.” Dori said, smiling from behind his dad.

“You too, Dori.” Albus’ dad said, with a nod to Dori. Albus’ mum offered Dori her own smile.

“It’s nice to meet you, dear.”

Once introductions had concluded, the Potter’s and the Nott’s stood in an awkward manner for a minute or so, no one quite knowing what to do with themselves.

The awkward silence was broken by the excited voice of Scorpius calling out their names.

“Al! Dori!” 

Both boys turned their heads immediately in the direction of the voice, and saw their friend quickly approaching them. Accompanying him was a tall, severe looking man and a serene woman.

“Hi!” He said brightly when he finally stood before him. 

Scorpius shuffled awkwardly from foot to foot, trying to make his mind up about something. Dori appeared to make that decision for him, as he stepped around his dad and easily threw his arms around Scorpius in a bear hug. When he stepped back, Albus grinned at Scorpius and stepped forward to do the same.

“How were your holidays?” Scorpius asked them both, looking between them. His parents stood behind him, glancing at each other in mild amusement as their son ignored them in favour of his friends.

Mr and Mrs Malfoy allowed them a moment to catch up and talk with each other, before Mrs Malfoy stepped forward and introduced herself.

“You must be Albus and Theodore. I’m Scorpius’ mother, Astoria, and this is his father, Draco. It’s wonderful to meet you.” She said kindly, as Mr Malfoy stood stiffly beside her, nodding his head at each of them. 

“Boys.” Mr Malfoy said, offering the pair of them a quick nod of his head. He then glanced up at Albus’ parents and Mr Nott. 

“Nott. Potter.” Mr Malfoy said, nodding his head curtly at Mr Nott, and then Albus’ dad, in acknowledgement.

“Malfoy.” Mr Nott and Harry Potter replied at the same time.

“Wow. Two from two with the surnames only. You know, dad, mum reckons otherwise, but I  _ always knew _ that my advanced and extensive vocabulary  _ must _ be thanks to you.” Dori told his dad after a moment, joking to ease the slight tension.

“Brat.” Mr Nott responded dryly, staring fondly at Dori.

Albus, Dori and Scorpius, chatted for a couple of minutes, while their parents continued to hang awkwardly about, none of them wanting to leave and risk upsetting their own son. 

“We should go find Mei before we board the train.” Dori finally suggested, eyeing their parents, who were looking increasingly uncomfortable. 

Albus recognised Dori’s words for what they were- a subtle out for all of their parents, who  _ quite clearly _ did not want to be in each others company.

Albus and Scorpius agreed, and after making hasty goodbyes to their families, each boy offering kisses to their respective parents, the three boys gathered their trolleys, and headed off to find Mei. 

They found her at the other end of the platform, her face being held and smothered in kisses by an older woman.

“I’ll,”  _ kiss “ _ miss,”  _ kiss “ _ you.”  _ kiss  _ “You need to write me more this term!”  _ kiss _ .

“I already write you twice a week, mum. How can I writ- Hi!” Mei exclaimed happily, abruptly cutting herself off mid-sentence once she saw the three of them. 

Tugging away from her mother’s arms, Mei came running over and gave each of them a hug and kiss on the cheek, surprising all of them. It was the first time she had done that, but he supposed it was a thing now. 

Mei’s mother followed her, and before Mei could make any introductions, her mother was speaking.

“Mei, are these your friends?” She asked, delight lacing her tone.

“Yeah, mum. This is Al, Scor, and Dori. Guys, this is my mum, Lucy.”

“Oh, lovely! It’s very nice to meet you boys! My Mei talks about you all the time.” 

The boys chatted politely with Mrs Fawley for a bit. 

Albus thought he might have been the only one out of the three of them to notice the looks that Mei and her mother were throwing at each other before Mei sheepishly spoke up.

“Ummm, ah, mum wants to know if she can take a picture?” 

Albus felt amusement light his face, and saw Scorpius and Dori adopt similar expressions. They glanced at each other, all silently laughing at the look on Mei’s face. It was a special kind of embarrassed that only one’s parents could illicit.

“Sure, Mrs Fawley. I’m too handsome to not say yes.” Dori said with a grin that delighted Mei’s mum.

“Perfect!” 

Mrs Fawley’s hands dipped into a tiny purse that looked too small to house anything, and emerged with a massive camera. The purse was clearly enchanted.

Mei mouthed a quick  _ ‘sorry’ _ to all of them as they huddled together and looked, smiling, at Mrs Fawley’s camera.

Mrs Fawley’s camera had just flashed for the second time, when the horn of the train sounded, signalling that the Hogwarts Express would be leaving in five minutes.

“Mum, we need to board the train now.” Mei told her mother, who hadn’t shown any sign of putting her camera away.

“Oh, alright.” Mrs Fawley said, placing the camera back inside what should have been a too-small bag.

“Boys, it was lovely to meet you all.” She said, smiling brightly at them all. 

After giving Mei one last kiss and demanding once again that Mei write her more often, Mrs Fawley stepped back and allowed them to board the train.

Unlike his first trip on the Hogwarts Express, it didn’t take them overly long to find an empty compartment. The four of them filed in, and stored their trunks in the overhead storage, with Albus and Scorpius both allowing their pets out of their cages.

Scorpius’ cat, Nyx, immediately settled herself into Scorpius’ lap and dozed off, while Siriol, clambered in and around the overhead.

The’d been on the train for half an hour when the trolley lady opened their compartment door.

"Anything from the trolley, dears?” She asked them pleasantly.

“Two chocolate frogs, one cauldron cake and one pumpkin pasty, please.” Albus said quietly, pulling a sickle from his pocket to pay.

He kept the cauldron cake for himself, and gave the pumpkin pasty to Dori. The chocolate frogs were for Scorpius and Mei; the pair of them were mad for chocolate. 

He received a chorus of  _ thank you’s _ , and the four of them spent the rest of the train ride talking about their Christmases with each other. 

The train pulled into Hogsmeade station in no time at all, and they were taken to the castle in the same carriages that had brought them to the train before the break began.

That night, the four of them stayed up rather late, finishing up the last of the homework assignments that they had been given for the Christmas break. Albus, Dori and Scorpius had finished most of their work, but Mei had a fair portion of her own left to complete.

By the time all four of them had completed everything, they were all exhausted and more than ready for bed.

Things at Hogwarts were the same for the four of them as what they had been before the holiday: they went to their classes and were ignored by their peers, explored the grounds and visited with Hagrid, played muggle games with the other Slytherin first years, had lunch with Rose and Lola, and now a new friend of Rose’s: Dana, and just generally enjoyed their time together.

Another thing that remained the same was Mei’s concern that Albus was being targeted, although he still disagreed. He didn’t want to seem boastful, but in all reality, his father was the saviour of the wizarding world. He knew other students thought he must be the family disappointment, what with his being a Slytherin and all, but that didn’t change the fact that he was still Harry Potter’s son. 

Really, what were the chances that Albus was being targeted?

Apparently, the chances were high, Albus suddenly realised as things came to a head during one particular incident, where a fifth year boy- feeling brave surrounded by his friends, and the lack of a teachers presence- knocked the books right out of Albus' hands.

“You’re an  _ embarrassment _ to the Potter name! Slytherin  _ scum. _ ”

As far as insults went, that one was pretty mediocre. But it was the first time anything as confrontational as that had happened, and it sparked a shoving match between Dori and the boy, which quickly escalated into a brawl. It had all become a bit of a blur from there, with many people trying to pry the two apart. 

Once the brawl had been split up, it became quickly apparent that although Dori had not fared overly well, the other boy was worse by far. His nose was broken and bleeding profusely, and if Albus was not mistaken, the hazy look in his eyes was indicative of a concussion. 

The boy was taken to the hospital wing (Dori refused to go), and everyone involved- including Albus and his friends- found themselves with detentions, courtesy of the Hufflepuff head boy who had stumbled upon the scene.

“I told you!” Mei hissed once they had been escorted back to the Slytherin common rooms by the Slytherin fifth year prefects, who had also stumbled upon the scene.

“I told you they were targeting you! I knew it!”

She was furious; Albus was baffled. He had been quietly concerned about how Scorpius would be treated, but he had never considered that he would be targeted for reasons  _ he still wasn’t quite clear on _ . 

Mei continued to quietly seethe as she set to tending to Dori.

When the weekend fell, Albus was still wondering why and how he might have earned the ire of the Hufflepuff group as he and his friends made their way through the castle corridors. None of them were prepared to be confronted by the Hufflepuff head boy. 

“I’m here to give you the terms of your detention.” He announced, earning an eye roll from Mei and a tensed jaw from Dori. Scorpius looked as nervously polite as ever.

“You’ll be serving detention with Hagrid in the forbidden forest. You’ll need to meet him in there as he’s already started, but you don’t need to go until 17:00. He’s left lights for you to follow so that you’ll be able to meet up with him. You only need to be there for 3 hours.” With a nod of his head, he turned and marched off. 

Mei waited for him to be out of earshot before furiously hissing that this was  _ utter rubbish.  _ “ _ Who  _ sends a bunch of  _ first years  _ into the  _ forbidden  _ forest to serve a bloody detention?”

Dori pat her shoulder gently to console her. 

By the time five o’clock rolled around, the four of them had gathered in front of a marker lamp near the entrance of the forest, looking ahead nervously before slowly following the trail of lamps. 

They were soon enclosed in the forest, the lamps spread further and further apart making them harder to spot.

After about an hour and a half of walking, both Mei and Dori had to cast lighting spells with their wands to use the wandlight as guidance- the floor of the forest had become hard to see. Albus and Scorpius would have used wand-light too, except for the fact that  _ Lumos _ was a third year spell and neither of them could do it. 

Even with the wand-light It was becoming eerily dark the longer they walked, with Mei’s light becoming a bit dimmer as they went.

It now felt like they had followed the wrong thing at one point and were headed somewhere they shouldn’t be.

Albus opened his mouth and began to voice his concern, but he was cut off mid-sentence.

  
  



End file.
